This time of year is always the hardest part of the school year to get through. Now that the weather is getting warmer and spirits are up, everyone’s motivation level is very low. When your choices are warm weather outside or studying inside, the choice may seem like a no-brainer, but it would benefit you more to take the less-appealing choice: studying.

Just because it’s warm out doesn’t give you the excuse not to do anything. School isn’t out for another month and teachers are still going to be expecting quality work from you up until school is out on June 14.

Once that day comes, then that’s your time to slack off. You have the whole summer to relax and do nothing before you even have to start thinking about another school year. For seniors, college, for the rest of us, another year of high school.

But now that AP tests are over and finals seem like they are too far away to have to worry about and we are starting to get a little antsy during school. For all those AP testers, this week is the only time you can use the excuse of your brain being too fried from taking AP tests to be able to focus. After that, it’s back to work.

But just because you have a little more free time now since your schedule clears up doesn’t mean that you can slack off at school. All of your classes matter, even if it may seem like you’re not doing anything in it.

So don’t be stupid and waste the last month of school. Enjoy it, yes, but don’t make your grades plummet down to a dark place they will never recover from. Keep them up and just do your homework.

In the future, when you have a full- time job or you’re taking summer classes in college, summer doesn’t mean relaxing. It’ll be the same routine you go through the rest of the year and letting that feeling of having no motivation take over your life now will not help you then.

If you get used to slacking off the couple of months before school is out, you’ll feel that way at a full-time job too. Keeping the motivation up to work in the summer when your whole life you’ve had it off will not be an easy change and if you had slacked off for the months leading up to summer your whole life, will be an even harder one.

From here on out, it’s just baby steps. Take it one week at a time: one week until memorial day, two more after that and then it’s the last week of school and finals week.

That adds up to about 20 more days. That is all you have left. Seniors, you have even less than that and there is pretty much no stress for you. After school is out you’re free to do whatever you want. No homework, no studying, no stress. Just make sure to keep those grades up until summer.